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Since Monzie Hosh seemed to be thoroughly distracted himself just at the moment, this might be a good moment to pay a visit to the Starfield Club. Perhaps the staff might be a little less guarded when the boss is away. I followed a winding boulevard back down the hill, walking past long rows of secluded residences solidly built of finely carved stone, surrounded by subdued but stylishly decorated courtyards and the occasional walled garden. Here and there, at the bends in the path, there were vantage points allowing a visitor to rest a while and appreciate the fine view out over the rooftops towards the cavern base. There was money here, lots of money; money which had been worked hard for, in mostly legal occupations, and with a strong suggestion that its present owners thoroughly intended to hang on to every cent. We rarely get visitors from the upper world down here and, when we do, they are easy to spot. An unusually tall goblin like me can just about pass as a short human in a dim light, but most humans are so tall that they stand out, quite literally, in the crowd. Such a rare visitor might wonder, if they bothered to think about it, why goblin houses have roofs at all? In answer is obvious: there are flying creatures down here, bats and other animals that are known only in myth on the surface, and one would certainly need a degree of protection from their droppings. Besides, most caverns are big enough to have their own weather - usually pretty mild and unvarying compared with most parts of the surface world - but rain and drizzle are common enough. The caves are also not entirely dark; some sunlight makes it way in from the surface cunningly channelled through the rock, enough to allow certain plants and fungi to grow, and also enough to give a sense of day and night. I reached the more level part of the cavern and walked to the arched entrance to the transit tunnel system. The transit tubes are an old magic, one which allowed us all to move underground millennia ago, keeping out of the way of the swarming humans on the surface. There are far fewer of us; just a few million hidden away, for the most part, safely underground. There are Goblin caverns all over the world, linked together, although describing the connections as "tubes" or "tunnels" is a misnomer, of course. Certainly, the appearance is that of a short tunnel. You walk in at a steady pace, then walk out in another cavern, which might be a thousand feet or a thousand miles away, or just another part of the same cavern. The entrances and exits are always underground, so there are steps down and then up at each end - but no Goblin is likely to be worried by two or three flights of stairs. At busy times, there are lines of Goblins entering and leaving the archways. In the middle of the day, it was rather quiet with just the occasional straggler coming the other way. The transit here took me to the main terminus for this cavern. From there, it was a short walk to a second entrance which delivered me to another cavern. One more change and I was on my way to the Starfield Club.
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Part 13